Witch Monastery

This is the only area in Porto Liber where agriculture and farms are the main industries. Here live the happiest farmers in the entire city.

Or to be more precise, the landlord.

Because of its geographical location, the climate and soil conditions in the wilderness area are very suitable for the growth of grass. After the development of Liber Port, naturally there are powerful dairy companies coming here, hoping to acquire the land in the hands of farmers here, to grow grass on a large scale, graze cattle and sheep, squeeze fresh milk and make a variety of delicious dairy products.

In this era, although magic technology is advanced, cheap large-scale preservation technology has not yet been born. If dairy companies want to make huge profits, they still have to rely on grazing nearby developed and wealthy cities.

According to normal history, under the oppression of large multinational corporations, local farmers would definitely be powerless to resist. Their land would be bought away cheaply by various means, and they would become milkers, working for large corporations for their entire lives.

But as luck would have it, at the same time, the believers of the Goddess of Life arrived.

At that time, the goddess of life had not yet fallen, and her followers walked widely on the earth, helping the weak and saving lives. At that time, the Sein Empire had not yet declined, and still maintained a strong influence, friendly to the forces of the Church of the Goddess of Life, and did not allow consortiums from other countries to act recklessly.

Therefore, after observing the difficulties faced by the farmers, the pastors of the church took decisive action, calling on the farmers to unite and help each other, to keep their land at all costs, and to absolutely refuse to sell it cheaply to the company.

Under this organized resistance, even large multinational corporations are helpless. After all, the other party has the support of the goddess. They can't carry out terrorist attacks like they did in the Black Soil Continent to intimidate the farmers.

So in the end, they had no choice but to hold their noses and rent at a high price.

The company took over the farmers' land and hired them as milkers at high salaries.

Chapter 458: Life Goddess Church Headquarters

This may be the only defeat suffered by large multinational interest groups in the city of Liber Port. The peasants won, and as Liber Port continued to prosper, they basically lived a happy life with no worries about food and clothing.

Likewise, this was also a victory for the Church of the Goddess of Life. The peasants remembered the help the church had given them, so after the death of the Goddess of Life and the decline of the church for so many years, only the wilderness area still retained the last large church of the Goddess of Life.

It is also the current headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of Life in Port Liber.

The huge church was built of pure white marble, with a tall spire and five tall watchtowers standing around it. The main entrance was made of steel made by the dwarves, and a cross pattern was carved above the door frame.

Anyone who sees such a church will be amazed by its grandeur. However, nowadays, this magnificent cathedral inevitably looks a little deserted.

There was no other way. After all, no one would be willing to associate with a church that had lost the guidance of God. Although God would be resurrected sooner or later, a human life span was less than a hundred years. Who among the believers would be willing to wait that long?

Only a few immortals are willing to stay here.

But this also led to one thing: just a few immortal races could not support the long-term maintenance of a huge church.

The size of the church has been shrinking again and again, and the leaders often have multiple duties. They are busy running around in various regions on weekdays. If there is no necessary major event, they often do not see each other for several months in a row.

But today, they gathered together for the rare occasion. The reason was the most famous event in Liber Harbor in recent days.

The Death of Monport.

And what happened to the hero who killed him.

Compared to the Blue Dragons' terrifying intelligence network, which can obtain first-hand information at the first moment and infiltrate the government officials of the Mithril District like a sieve, the intelligence capabilities of the Church of the Goddess of Life, which has declined to this point, are pitifully weak.

They had almost no special intelligence channels, and therefore no ability to foresee the future. Like ordinary citizens, they could only wait slowly for media reports. However, they realized belatedly that the great hero who destroyed the Abyss Lord Mompot and saved the Port of Liberl was actually a member of their church!

He even owns a considerable business in Nangang District!

This shocked them greatly. They didn't expect that such a great man would choose to join the Church of the Goddess of Life at this time.

But with that came deep worry, because as they became famous, they also heard some bad news.

And today, they came to discuss this matter.

hum-

The heavy door was pushed open, and a man wearing a black priest robe, with a wrinkled face and a thick but neatly trimmed beard walked in.

His name is Evan, and he is a priest serving the goddess of life. Just like his appearance, he is already in his seventies and has long been old.

As he pushed the door open and entered, a female voice in the church said unhappily, "Evan, you're late."

The priest named Evan looked closely and saw a female figure sitting on a bench in the church with her back to him.

But after saying this, she turned around and asked, "Are you in any trouble?"

She is an elderly half-elf woman. Although she is no longer young and has some crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, from the outline between her eyebrows, one can vaguely tell how beautiful she was in her early years.

Her name is Juana, she is a priest in the field of life, and she is over 100 years old. Although the two are colleagues, they have never been able to get along well with each other verbally, and they can't help but pick on each other on weekdays.

Evan didn't mind. He smiled gently at his colleague and said, "We encountered a small accident on the road. A farmer cut his finger with a sickle, so I helped him deal with it."

As he said this, he closed the door, went over, and sat next to her. The warm sunlight shone on the two of them, and they looked like two old people accompanying each other at dusk. "You've heard about Brother Hawthorne, right?"

"Yeah." Juana responded, then turned her head and looked behind her, "Are we not waiting for Koval?"

Evan shook his head: "No need to wait, we can probably guess what he will say, that stubborn old man, huh..."

He continued, "Let's get back to business. I think this should be a good opportunity. Our church has such a hero. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to sweep away the decadence and add some fresh blood to the church."

"I think so, what do you think?"

Juana maintained the most basic vigilance regarding the opinions of her colleagues: "But, I have also heard some rumors that fellow Hawthorne is not a real hero. Someone is deliberately promoting him."

"It seems that the hunting team was the main force to eliminate Monbot, but he took advantage of the opportunity when the Abyss Lord was escaping. Then he deliberately made a big fuss about it to claim the main credit."

Evan was silent. He had actually heard such rumors. Although he was emotionally unwilling to believe that his church members would do such a thing, judging from his experience, this possibility was greater.

He has not

With that kind of secret but reliable source of information, he, like Juana, had no way of judging whether it was true or false.

"Not only that, I also found out some other things about his hometown, Nangang District." Juana continued, "Last month, the Nangang District security team shot and killed six to seven hundred criminals in the name of 'clearing out cultists.' Basically, every time they raided a so-called 'cult's' lair, they would slaughter everyone there."

"But according to my investigation, the guards in Nangang District did not carry out such large-scale operations many times. They did not even lose a single person. The one who actually carried out the killing was actually someone else."

Evan's face suddenly became serious: "Is it Hawthorne?"

Juana nodded: "According to my investigation, he is most likely the one who killed people, and he killed so many people in less than a week."

"Based on so much information, do you think he is trustworthy?"

Evan was silent for a moment: "Actually, in this situation, I am more willing to trust my fellow believers."

"I heard that when the Nangang District was flooded, he also participated in the disaster relief activities organized by the Amazon people. He is also practicing the path of the goddess, so there is definitely no problem with his faith."

Juana sighed, "I want to believe my fellow believer, but where did he come from?"

She couldn't help but continue questioning, "The Nangang District has always been managed by Sister Celine. I heard that she has been running the business poorly. The monastery only had the seventh sister last year, and it was just barely able to survive."

"But since the second half of this year, he has emerged in that monastery, and then the small monastery began to expand. No, it has not even been half a year, and he has become what he is now. It is said that he is already a millionaire."

"Honestly, Evan, I'm afraid this is all just an appearance, and he actually has other intentions..."

"Then examine him strictly!"

Suddenly, a resonant male voice rang out in the church: "Let's go to his monastery and his industrial park and take a good look at what kind of person he is and what he has turned the monastery into!"

Evan and Juana were startled and quickly stood up, turning their heads around, and saw a short dwarf with a thick carrot-colored beard walking out from behind the pastor's pulpit under the statue of the goddess at the end of the church.

"Koval!" Evan screamed. "When did you arrive?"

"I've been here for a long time!" said the dwarf, "but I've been hiding behind here, so you two haven't noticed me yet!"

Evan was speechless. It was true. With such a small pulpit, only a dwarf could hide behind it and remain unnoticed.

Ignoring the complicated expressions on the two people's faces, the dwarf named Koval continued, "I understand your concerns, Juana, and I understand your thoughts, Evan. Frankly speaking, I also have some doubts about him, so I plan to go there in person to see his true face!"

"Hearsay is false, seeing with your own eyes is the truth!"

Chapter 459: The Limit of the Eye Demon

Evan was suddenly filled with nervousness: "You're going to test him?"

He couldn't help but worry about Father Hawthorne, whom he had never met before. Not to mention in the Church of the Goddess of Life, which has always had a relaxed atmosphere, even in some churches with stricter rules, Koval's style of doing things was out-and-out old-fashioned and conservative.

If we were to use his standards to evaluate, even he and Juana would probably be labeled as "too frivolous in their attitude towards faith", "too secular", and "not self-disciplined enough"!

This is not an exaggeration, Koval really said something similar in his early years. However, after the death of the goddess of life, many believers converted to Christianity, but the two of them held on to the end, so the dwarf stopped talking like this.

Similarly, seeing what Koval said, even Juana, who was full of suspicion towards Hawthorne just now, couldn't help but say a few good words for him: "Then you have to think twice before encountering things and be more flexible."

"No matter how much we criticize him, he is still a young man under 20 years old, a young genius. It's normal for him to be a little arrogant or impulsive, and even have several good relationships with girls."

"Relax your standards a little. As long as he has good intentions, be more tolerant!"

Koval sneered: "Don't worry, I only believe what I saw with my own eyes, what his monastery is like."

"As long as his heart is truly sincere and kind, it is impossible for him not to leave any traces. On the contrary, if he really has ulterior motives, it is impossible for him to cover it up completely, and he will definitely be exposed!"

As he said this, he had already made up his mind that he must use the most stringent standards to test the faith of this church member who had killed so many people in one breath with thundering means.

He believed that the weaker the church became, the stricter the standards for believers should be, and that people with ulterior motives should never be allowed to infiltrate their pure ranks!

……

"The Casarant family?"

In the study of the monastery, Hawthorne teased the floating Sanasa in front of him with his fingers, and communicated with it with difficulty through telepathy.

This palm-sized little eye demon still hasn't regained the ability to speak, but after being purified by him, the two have formed some kind of spiritual connection and can communicate to a certain extent.

"Ah, ah!"

The little eye demon chirped, and its palm-sized main eye nodded at Hawthorne.

Hawthorne nodded slightly, then seemed to be thinking about something.

He just asked Shannasa whether the attempt to discredit his reputation was instigated by a demon named Regolas, and wanted to follow the clues to see if he could find him.

The answer turned out to be no. It didn't recognize Regolas at all, and would not cooperate with the devil's apostles.

The person who hired it to do this job was actually a nobleman named Casalante.

Hiss, it seems there is another layer of connection here. Regolas did not contact Shannasa, he actually bewitched a noble family, and then that family hired the Shannasa Guild as a black glove to do some shameful and dirty work.

Tsk, it is indeed troublesome. But it should be said that this way, the resources and power that Regolas can leverage will be greater, and at the same time more hidden.

Well... However, since this guy still has the support of one last noble family in Port Liber, it means that he should still have some influence in secret and has not been completely eliminated.

When Annuo comes, let her help find out how powerful this so-called Casalant family is!

He thought so, then put the matter aside and began to study the problem of cooperation between himself and the Eye Demon in casting spells.

Too much of this little guy's power has been washed away. Although he still has a certain ability to emit eye rays, their power and variety are much less than before.

Right now, the only four types of eye rays that Sanasa can cast are stun, freeze, telekinesis and paralysis. Their functions are very limited and their power is weak. They can hardly help Hawthorne in a battle of this level.

However, in the process of getting along, Hawthorne gradually discovered that this thing did not seem to be irreparable.

Thanks to the symbiotic magical and spiritual connection between himself and it, it seems that by providing it with magic power, he can increase the power of these eye rays by more than a level.

Although this will put a heavy burden on the little eye demon and it will be too tired to fire after a few times, but in a fierce, high-level battle, these few high-powered eye waves may very well become the key to turning the tide of the battle!

This is really worth studying!

With this mood, he ambitiously studied the little eye demon, looking forward to seeing it shine on the battlefield in the future.

But then, a mosquito landed on his ear, and the next second, Andre's voice rang out: "Master, do you have time now? Sister Celine wants to see you."

Hawthorne raised his eyebrows and said, "When you are free, not busy, let her come over."

The mosquito stopped talking. A few seconds later, accompanied by a warm white light, Celine's tall, plump, and noble figure appeared beside him: "Master, there is something you need to know."

"explain."

"People from the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of Life heard about your deeds, so they came to observe and evaluate you." Celine said, "In fact, these things are also routine in previous years, but because the monastery has never caused any trouble, this kind of inspection is just a formality and nothing happens."

"After all, the headquarters is also busy and there is not enough manpower to do this kind of thing. Postponement or even cancellation is a common situation."

Hawthorne nodded slightly: "But this year, because I became famous and made such a big fuss, things are a little different, right?"

Celine nodded. "Yes, I feel this is very unusual. The headquarters suddenly requested an inspection, and the one who came was the old-fashioned Koval, who has a bad reputation..."

Hearing this, Hawthorne raised his eyebrows: "Koval? The dwarf?"

Xilin was startled: "Master, do you know him?"

Hawthorne nodded: "Of course, I have heard of his name."

The dwarf Koval is a priest of the war realm who has been devoutly believing in the Goddess of Life for more than two hundred years.

Like most of his dwarven brethren, this fellow is stubborn, has a bad temper, is stubborn, and rarely changes his mind once he has made up his mind.

But this guy's personal morality is definitely noble, and his faith is absolutely devout. Especially after the goddess disappeared, in order to save the church's expenses, he even gave up drinking. He may be the only dwarf in the whole game who doesn't drink.

So, this guy is actually not that difficult to deal with. As long as you follow his imagination and leave him a good first impression - in the words of the game, it means to increase the initial favorability - this guy will be an absolutely loyal and reliable backup.

Oh no, it should be called the front shield. After all, creatures like war priests should stand in the front line to resist the enemy!

Don't think that he is always picky. When you are in trouble and need to be beaten, this guy will really pick up a weapon and fight you himself!

Hearing that it was him, Hawthorne's mouth curled up into a smile, and then continued: "In fact, we don't have much to prepare. Let the nuns do everything according to their daily lives. Even if Koval is old-fashioned, he can't object to us doing business and making money to support ourselves under such difficult circumstances."